


Earthquake

by RepulsivePangolin7 (M_Mary93)



Category: 9-1-1 (TV), S.W.A.T. (TV 2017)
Genre: Crush Injury, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Officer Down, earthquake, injured, injured leg, tsunami
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:28:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23931589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/M_Mary93/pseuds/RepulsivePangolin7
Summary: The team (S.W.A.T) are busy taking down a few gangsters when an earthquake hits. One of their own gets trapped and severely injured. Truck and ambulance 118 (9-1-1) are the responding fire and rescue squad.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 83





	1. Chapter 1

“24-David, I have four heat signatures inside the room.”

“Okay, prepare to breach.” Hondo nodded to the bunch of them who was on the outside of the door, Street placed the explosives ready to breach. Then Hondo clicked his mic, “20-David, breaching in 5-4-3…”

The explosives detonated when he would have gotten to zero, and the team moved in a short second later.

Deacon and Chris broke through the skylight windows and rappelled down, before placing themselves by the human sized door, and the truck sized sliding door.

“ON THE GROUND! ON THE GROUND!” The whole team were shouting at the four gangsters. “HANDS ON YOUR HEAD! ON THE GROUND!”

Street traced the right wall. Hondo and Tan went straight forward, towards a big truck they planned on tracing each side of. Luca went along the left side.

Luca stood by a big block of steel, which oddly looked like a bomb-shelter door. It could be useful to press himself behind if the four guys decided to open fire instead of following their instructions.

“ON THE GROUND!”

Three of the guys knelt down and went into the position the SWAT team demanded, the last guy looked like he was about to chance on it.

“DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!” Hondo barked, the entire team had their scopes trained on the guy.

The guy reached to his back before raising his arm with what looked like a gun in hand.

But he never got that far.

At first it sounded like a train was going to run right through the building,

“Earthquake!” Street called out, just before the real shaking started.

It was bad enough to toss them around a good bit. None of them were left standing.

Chris and the guy who had contemplated making a run for it were the first two to recover. The guy dove for the gun he had lost, but ended up with a bullet piercing through his leg.

“STAY DOWN!” she barked, still holding her gun pointed towards the man.

The rumbling started to die down, and was replaced by all the other sounds. Like structures creaking, car alarms going off outside, and… whimpering?

“Are everyone okay?” Hondo called out,

Protocol would have them reply in the order of their callsigns. First one to answer would be Luca, then Chris, then Tan, Street and finally Deacon.

But Luca didn’t start off that train, so Chris didn’t follow.

“Luca, are you alright?” Hondo called out, his attention shifting from the four guys in the middle of the room, towards the left side of the building, “SHIT! Chris, Street, keep an eye on those guys. Tan, Deac, left wall with me!”

The team members followed the orders.

“This is 20-David, we have an officer down. Requesting a firetruck and an ambulance to our location. 13408 Saticoy Street.”

He confirmed when the person repeated his information, and gave the briefest of brief explanation on what was happening on scene and who it was that was hurt, before he also knelt down by Luca.

It didn’t take long before he got the news that truck 118 and ambulance 118 was on their way.

“Hey, stay still, stay still…” Deacon was in the middle of trying to force Luca to focus on him.

“Get it off of me…” Luca’s voice was a lot more frail and broken than what it usually was. Tears were running down the sides of his face, causing a wet trail which led into his hair.

“Trust me, it’s not going to be any less painful if you keep squirming like this.”

“I’ve gotta see.” He barely managed to say it between sobs.

“No. That can wait.” Deacon declared, pressing a firm hand down on Luca’s shoulder before the man had a chance to try to sit up.

“Luca, you left leg is trapped under a steel door.” Hondo explained, “I have to put a tourniquet around your thigh in case it starts bleeding a lot when the firefighters get here to lift this steel door off of you. It will probably hurt when I try to slide it under your knee, just know I’m sorry that it’s hurting you. Alright?”

“Let me see..”

“How about I snap a picture and you can see it when you get to the hospital?” Tan offered.

“Does it look bad?”

“It looks like you’ve got your leg trapped by a big steel door.” Deacon explained, “Tan, just take the picture so he can look, later.”

Luca squeezed his eyes shut, “It’s bad…”

“We don’t know how bad, or not bad, it is yet.” Deacon tried to calm Luca down, “But seeing it won’t make it any better right now, okay?”

Luca barely nodded, wiping at his eyes. 

“Can’t you just,” he had to try to hide a sob, “lift it off?”

“It’s too heavy for us to lift.” Tan sighed, “Maybe we could get it up an inch or two, but chances are we would only drop it back down. Causing more damage…”

“Even with a weight pole thing?”

“That is if we used a lever to lift it…” Tan shrugged apologetically.

“We better just wait for the fire fighters to get here with the air cushions.” Hondo added, “Alright Luca, I’m going to slide this under your knee now. Take a deep breath.”

Luca pulled a deep breath, and Hondo slid the tourniquet under Luca’s knee.

It was most certainly not a painless affair, and it left Luca a sobbing and whimpering wreck after the first few seconds of howling out in pain had passed.

“How are you doing over there?” Christina’s voice came from the other side of the building.

“He’s got his lower left leg pinned under a bomb shelter door.” Hondo called back, not adding any graphic details, “He’s awake and in pain!”

“Do you need any help?” Street called afterwards.

“Right now, all we can do is stabilize.” Hondo called back, “Just keep an eye on those four guys.”

Hondo sat back for a short moment, before he clicked his mic, “Copy that.”

“The earthquake caused a lot of structural damage all across town. Fire and ambulance has trouble getting here by car. They let off three from the crew with the most essential stuff. They’re coming here on foot while the rest of the crew are trying to get here with the vehicles.” Hondo relayed to the rest of the team.

“It hurts…”

“I know it does buddy…” Deacon rubbed Luca’s shoulder, “Just hold on…”

**SWATSWATSWAT**

None of them really knew how much time had passed before someone slammed on the door. “Fire and Rescue!”

Tan got up to let them in.

A few moments later he was back by Luca’s side.

“Hey, I’m Henrietta, you can call me Hen. I’m going to place an IV catheter in your arm, so that I can give you something for the pain, while my coworkers Eddie and Buck will prepare to lift this door off your leg.”

“I hate needles.” Luca blinked through tears.

“Trust me, you’re going to love this one in a little while.” Hen winked as she took her kit and started prepping Luca’s arm for the venous catheter. “You’ve got really nice veins by the way.”

Luca was hit by another wave of pain and was too busy groaning through it to focus on what Hen was doing to his arm.

“There, done. You really have nice and easy veins.” She declared, “Now, you’re going to get 5 milligrams of morphine, we’ll see how you react to that. I’ve got another 5 for you if that’s not enough to keep you comfortable.”

Luca nodded slightly.

“Alright, you’ll start feeling a bit better real soon.” Hen winked as she hooked the morphine syringe up to the IV catheter.

**SWATSWATSWAT**

“Buck, are you alright?” Eddie asked glancing over at Buck, “You look a little pale there.”

Buck blinked a couple of times, before he nodded. “I’m good.”

“You sure?” Eddie asked as he placed a second air cushion in the sloth between the concrete floor and the steel door. “This one’s hitting a bit close to home, right?”

Buck nodded a little, and rubbed his ankle.

“If you need to get some air…”

Buck shook his head as he connected the air cushions to the portable compressor they had carried over there, “No, I’ve got this.”

“Hitting close to home?” Hondo glanced over at the two men.

“Yeah, remember that firetruck accident a few years back?” Eddie asked, “He was the one who was pinned under it.”

“Yeah, we got called in on that situation. FBI was already on the scene. Your captain did a lot to solve that whole bomber situation as I recall.”

Eddie nodded.

“Well, I try not to remember it…” Buck shrugged.

“Wait, “ Luca gasped, a lot more relaxed now that he had gotten a bolus of morphine, “That was you?”

Buck paused and looked over at him, then nodded, “Yeah. That was me.”

“But you’re all better now? Back to work and all…” Luca winced.

Buck nodded, “Let’s hope you’re just as lucky, alright?”

Luca nodded.

“Sodium Bicarbonate is in…” Hen added.

“Now, we’re going to pump up these air cushions, and it’ll raise the door that’s trapping you.” Buck swallowed, “Now, it’s going to hurt like HELL when we do, so if you think you might need it, ask Hen for some more of that morphine before we start…”

Luca closed his eyes and breathed in and out a few times before he nodded, “A little more maybe, knowing you’ve got personal experience with this.”

Buck nodded, and Hen pushed another 2,5 milligrams of morphine. “Alright? Ready to try?”

Luca nodded.

Then the freight train like sound started up again, soon followed by the forceful shaking.

“Start the compressor!” Buck shouted, and Eddie hit the switch while the world shook around all of them.

The whirring and rattling from the compressor was entirely lost in the rumble of the aftershock, but the air cushions started to fill up all the same.

**SWATSWATSWAT**

“Everyone okay?” Hondo asked once it died down again.

“Peachy.” Luca growled, his face knotted in a grimace.

“Good thinking starting the compressor when the quake was starting…” Hen directed at Buck as she saw how much the steel door had moved up Luca’s leg, the only thing stopping it from crushing more of his leg was the two air cushions which were lifting it on one side.

Buck nodded, looking down at Luca. “Alright tough guy, let’s get you out from under there.”

Luca gave a half-assed nod in return.

“Alright. Let’s pull him out and get a safe distance between him and that door. Then we can stabilize his leg and prepare to transfer him.” Hen said, looking at Buck and Eddie to make sure they had understood her. They nodded.

“Anything we can do to help?” Hondo asked.

“One of you can go see if the rest of our team is nearby.” She shrugged, “And if one of you help pull him out, Eddie can help stabilize his leg as soon as it’s clear. Other than that… Try to comfort him.”

Hondo nodded, “Tan, you go outside. See if you can find the rest of 118.”

Tan nodded.

“I’ll help pull him out.” Hondo added, looking at Deacon who nodded to signal that he had understood his role.

“Okay, we do this in one smooth motion.” Buck instructed as he grabbed a hold of one shoulder of Luca’s tac-vest, “If it feels like he’s stuck, we stop and see if we can reposition one of the air cushions so that he’s not stuck anymore, understood?”

“Stop pulling if he’s stuck, yes.” Hondo nodded.

“On three.” Buck waited for Hondo to nod again, “One. Two. Three!”

They pulled, and slowly but surely Luca’s leg emerged from under the door. The 7,5 milligrams of I.V. morphine seemed just enough to keep him from screaming, instead he let out a low guttural growl.

“How is his knee looking?” Eddie asked, looking up at Hen as soon at Luca’s foot was out.

Hen shrugged, “Luca, I’m going to cut open your pant leg. Okay?”

He made a short approving sound, before the regular growling continued.

She started snipping away at the pants, revealing more and more of his mangled leg. “Can you try to undo his shoe, Eddie?”

“Yeah.”

Having his shoe removed was obviously way more painful than being slid a couple of yards.

She finally reached Luca’s knee and studied it. At first glance it looked perfectly normal, until she realized that by the way his thigh was positioned, the outside calf muscle should have been the upper point, not the inner calf muscle.

“How’s his pulse?”

“Still working the shoe and sock off…” Eddie replied.

“Alright, just let me know when you get there.”

“Sure.”

She could hear the silverfox looking SWAT member trying to calm Luca down, but she almost doubted that the words got through to him.

“Luca, hey… Luca, I can give you 2,5 more milligrams before I need to consult with a doctor again.”

“Please.”

“That’s a ‘yes’, right?”

Luca nodded.

“Okay, let’s hope this is enough to keep you somewhat comfortable.” she said as she prepared to inject the rest of her second syringe of morphine.

Luca nodded again.

Not long after she had injected the rest of the morphine and flushed the line with saline, Eddie whistled at her. “Hey, the boot is off. Can you undo the tourniquet so I can check his pulse?”

She nodded and started releasing it, fully prepared for an arterial bleed to start pulsing somewhere. But it didn’t. Luca’s leg did start bleeding more though.

“Difficult to find, but the pulse is palpable.” Eddie nodded.

“Better than nothing.” Hen shot back before re-applying the tourniquet. Even though Luca wasn’t gushing blood from the wounds along his lower leg, it didn’t mean that there weren’t problematic bleeding under the skin.

“So, how’s his knee looking?” Eddie followed up, remembering that he had asked that earlier. The way Luca’s foot was angled would complicate the process to stabilize his leg.

“Looks rotated.” Hen looked over at Eddie.

“Dimple sign?”

Hen shook her head, “No.”

Eddie lifted his gaze and looked past where Hen’s hands were placing sterile dressings over the worst gashes. He saw what she meant and nodded.

“Cavalry’s here…” Tan called out as he re-entered through the same door he had exited, with the rest of 118 in tow.

**SWATSWATSWAT**

“Alright. Luca is on his way to the hospital. Chris and Street have delivered our four gangsters to some patrol cars.” Hondo grabbed his vest and found that energy saving stance, “I know we all just want to go straight to the hospital to be there for our boy, but a major earthquake just hit, and there are lots of people who needs our help.”

He took a deep breath, shook his head a little, sighed.

“Tan, you take the wheel. We’re meeting 50 squad back at HQ. We’re going to pack up four rubber rafts and we’re on tsunami rescue duty once that hits.” Hondo checked his watch, “ETA on the first wave is 75 minutes.”

The rest nodded. All of them a little rattled from what had just happened to Luca.

**SWATSWATSWAT**

It was five minutes to midnight when they finally could consider themselves off-duty.

The entire day felt like a spin-cycle in a washing machine filled with bricks.

The others had said their good nights and headed towards the parking lot, anxious to get some sleep, but he wasn’t ready to go home to his family. Not after the day they had at work. It wouldn’t be right to Annie if he brought all of this crap home.

Since the day had felt like Armageddon and the apocalypse combined, he had a frail hope that she would still be in her office.

“Wendy, do you have time?” Deacon asked as soon as she looked up after he had knocked on the doorframe.

“Always.” she nodded, “Come in. Sit down.”

Deacon nodded and closed the door behind him.


	2. A couple of months later

***Two-three months after the ‘Earthquake’ event***

Street slapped on the doorframe as he office landscape part of the metro division. Neither of the three officers in there looked up.

“Hey! Luca!” he grinned as the blond looked up from his computer screen, “The rest of the team is thinking about going out tonight. Find a sweet bar and have a few drinks, would be really cool if you joined us.”

Luca flashed a brief smile, then sighed, “I don’t know…”

“Come on, we’ll make sure there’s a good bench where you can sit and have your leg up.” Street tried to bribe.

“I can’t drink…” Luca shrugged, “Pain meds and alcohol don’t mix.”

“Well, I won’t either. I’m the DD…”

“Designated driver…” he chuckled, “Yeah, guess it was your turn right about now…”

Street nodded, “Come on, the team misses you…”

“Well, I’m right here…”

“-You know what I mean…”

“Yeah, I do…” Luca nodded.

“So, can I count you in?”

Luca sighed, glancing down at the leg he had propped up on a second chair and a few pillows. “Look, I… My leg still really hurts… And I feel drained of all energy.”

Street nodded, “I feel bad trying to convince you to go out with us, but… How about you go out with us, and if you feel like you have to bail after 10-20 minutes, then that’s fine. I’ll drive you home. Just, please?”

Luca smiled a bit, “Promise? It won’t be weird?”

“Of course, no one will think it’s weird that you suddenly might feel like the couch or bed back home is a better option. We all know what happened in the first place.”

Luca nodded, “So, are we headed straight to the bar after work, or?”

“No, some of us DEFINITELY need a shower before seeing civilians.” Street chuckled.

“Good, my work pillbox is empty, so since we’re going home first I can grab my next dose before we go out.”

Street nodded, “Forgot to fill it up?”

“No, just figured I had enough for the shift.” Luca shrugged.

Street nodded and stood a bit taller to check the coffee mug on Luca’s desk, “Want some more coffee?”

Luca chuckled, “Yeah, that’d be great.”

Street smiled and walked over to Luca’s desk to grab his mug. “So, do you want to grab some food someplace before we go to the bar?”

“Oh, YES.” Luca beamed, “I’m hungry as F…”

Street grinned as he filled up Luca’s mug with coffee, “What kind of food do you want?”

“Anything’s good.” Luca shrugged.

“I found this new Lithuanian place. The food is amazing, not necessarily modern looking, but amazing.”

Luca grinned, “Sounds awesome.”

“We can pick it up on our way home…”

Luca nodded, “Sounds good.”

Street placed the coffee mug in front of Luca, “Alright, then I tell the team that you’re in tonight. And I’ll see you in half an hour.”

Luca nodded.

**SWATSWATSWAT**

“He’s in!” Street grinned as he returned to the rest of the team, “But we need to pick a bar where he can sit comfortably.”

“Of course.” Hondo nodded. “What about Ercoles?”

“Or Good Times At Davy Wayne’s…” Chris shrugged, “Couches there as well.”

“Barney’s Beanery?” Street shrugged.

“Ercoles…” Deacon shrugged, “Ercoles is probably the speed Luca’s up for right now.”

Street nodded, “Yeah. You’ve got a point.”

“Let’s take Ercoles.” Tan shrugged, “That’s not too far from where you live either. Shorter drive when he’s out of energy.”

Street nodded, “Another good point.”

**SWATSWATSWAT**

Street almost regretted convincing Luca that a night out with the team would be a good idea when he heard the older man hiss as something flared up while they were walking from their car to their house with the takeaway they planned on eating before going out.

“Hey, you good?”

Luca had already stopped in his track, but when Street asked he looked back up and feigned a smile. “Yeah, just…”

“Just?”

Luca shrugged.

“Couldn’t come up with a reasonable lie?”

Luca rolled his eyes, “Just didn’t want to worry you. Just had a slight muscle spasm. Nothing to even think about.”

Street raised his eyebrows, not buying what Luca tried selling at all. “Sure.”

“Look, my leg will so weird shit like this for a long time, and you know it.” Luca started hobbling again, “That it does so when my last dose of meds are almost worn out is nothing to write home about. It’s natural. I just need to get my pill and relax for like half an hour. I’ll be good to go.”

Street kept his ‘not-believing-you’ look as he stared Luca down.

“Come on, I’m starving…” Luca complained as he stopped once more, but this time in front of Luca, “Are you going unlock the door or not? I didn’t even grab my keys this morning… -And I kinda want to sit down as well.”

Street chuckled a little and found the right key, “Alright.”

He held the door open for Luca, then he gestured to the couch, “Go sit down, I’ll get your meds. They’re on your nightstand, right?”

“Yeah, thanks…” Luca offered up a small smile as he hobbled towards the couch. He was not to proud to accept help like that when it was offered up. Once upon a not-so-distant time he might have been stubborn enough to growl in Street’s direction and claim that he could do it his damn self. But a crush injury often changes your perspective a bit.

He had just gotten himself arranged on the couch when Street rattled his pill bottle behind his shoulder. “Here you go…”

“Thank you.” Luca winked as he took the pill bottle, twisted the cap off and popped a pill into his mouth.

“And some soda to wash it down with…” Street held up a bottle of coke, “Figured you wanted that to go with the takeout.”

“Thanks again.” Luca grinned, took the bottle and took a sip before swallowing the pill, “Now that food smells amazing… Let’s eat.”

Street nodded and placed the plastic bag with takeout on the table. “I’ll get some plates and forks. I just ordered two different platters that I like, my guess is you’ll like them as well. This way we can both have a bit of each.”

Luca nodded and adjusted the way his leg was rested on top of the pillows, not without a slight grimace.

“Look, if you feel like you need to skip out on us today, I get it…” Street said from the kitchen, “It would be awesome if you’re able to join us, but seeing how much it bothers you… The rest of the team would obviously understand.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Luca shook his head as he sat back, “I just need like half an hour and for the pill I just took to start working. It’ll hurt a lot less then.”

“You sure?”

“You didn’t have to try that hard to convince me, remember?”

Street shrugged as he walked back to the living room table with plates and forks. “I just don’t want you to push yourself too hard either, especially not since I came up with a reckless idea.”

“Going to a bar can’t be considered reckless. Not unless you plan on getting into trouble.” Luca chuckled, “Besides, you said we were going to Ercoles, I can sit in a booth and sip coffee or soda and just rest.”

Street nodded.

**SWATSWATSWAT**

“I think I’m good to go now…” Luca winked over at Street a bit after they had finished their dinner, “I should probably change into some off-duty clothes.”

Street nodded, “Yeah, I should too…”

Luca smirked as he started to lift his leg off the pillows it had rested on, this time without a grimace to go along with the task. “You think boardshorts are okay? It’s either that or sweatpants. I had to get a bigger pair of uniform pants just for them to fit over this damn cast.”

“Don’t you have that pair of baggy cargo pants?”

“Yeah, but those are visibly dirty…” Luca shrugged.

“It might be a bit cold in just shorts…”

“We’re going to be indoors, and I’m not exactly one to freeze easily…”

“True.” Street nodded, “Go for the shorts. Should I bring a pillow you can have under your leg?”

“That would be great…” Luca nodded as he reached for his crutches.

**SWATSWATSWAT**

He had been more than a little skeptical about going out. His lower leg and knee was still causing him all sorts of pain. But it had been so long since he had actually hung out with the team. 

He was stuck with Street on the regular, but the other guys and Chris he really missed. And to be completely honest, being at home with Street wasn’t the same as hitting up a bar with him.

He sat on one side of the booth with his bad leg up on the bench. He was enjoying a cup of strong coffee and all his good friends were there.

Street had found a barstool and placed himself in front of his leg like a human shield, to make sure no drunk person would accidentally bump into it. The risk of just that happening wasn’t that great at the moment though, the bar was far from crowded. Probably because it was a Tuesday, but for the team it was the ‘weekend’.

Chris sat beside Street on another barstool. Hondo and Tan filled up the other side of the booth and Deacon was over at the bar ordering another beer, a third barstool was waiting patiently for him.

**SWATSWATSWAT**

“So I’m barreling down Mansfield Avenue, running as fast as I freaking can…” Tan’s in the middle of an old ‘war-story’, “Then at one of the last cross streets before Melrose Avenue, a freaking Prius comes out straight in front of me. Too late for me to stop, too late for me to try to jump the hood, or… You know, just jump the entire car…”

The team chuckled a little.

“So, at full speed I run into this Prius. My partner was like 10-20 yards behind me, and he claimed it hurt all the way back there.” Tan chuckled, “Now it didn’t hurt _that_ bad, but I did forget about the chase we were in the middle of. The Prius needed a new side window and to get it’s side door straightened. And I took about forty stitches in total after that run-in.”

“I hope you did some sort of ‘you-should-see-the-other-guy’ thing when you returned to the station.” Chris chuckled, “Poor Prius…”

Luca chuckled.

“Oh, I’ve got a nice one…” Hondo grinned, “Way back in the day, long before I made SWAT…”

The team turned their attention to him.

“I was probably in my early 20’s… I was teamed up with a guy who did not like my guts.” Hondo chuckled, “You know the kind… Anyway, we were going to enter this building. There had been a ‘call’ about domestic violence.”

Luca looked up, “Is it…?”

“You and Deke know the story…” Hondo nodded, “I was the first to enter. The only one to enter.”

Deacon grimaced, knowing what was to come.

“You see, this guy who hated me mostly because I tanned easier than him had managed trick some of his street friends into doing a fake call.” Hondo sighed, “He slammed the door shut behind me, and five gangsters attacked me.”

The whole team grimaced by then.

“I managed to shoot one of them in the shoulder, and that’s how it ended. They figured it was best to bail by then. But I looked like I had been in the ring with Muhammed Ali. One of my eyes were swollen shut, I had a split lip that needed twelve stitches. Lots of other small nicks and a ton of bruises. I could barely stand straight for two weeks. I don’t remember how many ribs I cracked, but it was more than a few. Let’s just say that I refused to have that guy as a partner for another shift.”

“Did he get fired?” Street asked.

“Not straight away…” Luca shook his head.

“No, not straight away…” Hondo nodded, “The bastard had friends both in high and low places. He did get caught eventually though.”

“Man, I wish I could’ve kicked his ass myself…” Luca sighed.

Deacon nodded.

“Well, ancient history…” Hondo shrugged, “Now, I know you’ve also got an ancient history story for us Luca… Come with it!”

“Oh, you mean the one where I fell off a truck?” Luca chuckled, one hand absentmindedly rubbing against his cast.

Hondo nodded.

“Alright.” Luca nodded and shifted a little in his seat, “Now, this was also LONG before SWAT…I had worked a couple of years, maybe. But I was still a bit… A bit of a hothead and quick to action.”

He paused and took a sip of his coffee.

“So, me and my partner had found this truck that had been associated with some kidnappers. We checked it. None of the suspects in sight. My partner called it in, I stuck around. These guys were known for beating their hostages to pulp basically, and two of them had ended up dead. I heard them approaching while Tim was calling it in by our car, which was parked on the other side of the store. We were actually going to get some grub…”

“What did you do?” Chris asked.

“I realized that I could not be seen. I was in uniform and I didn’t know what would happen if they saw me. I didn’t know if they had guns, I didn’t know if they would open fire in the middle of the street. I didn’t know a lot of stuff.”

“So…?” Tan asked.

“He climbed up on top of the rig…” Deacon chuckled.

Luca nodded. “I did. It was the only route that guaranteed that I wouldn’t be spotted.”

Hondo chuckled.

“Now, it was all fun and games until they started up the truck, and I found myself on the top of a moving Peterbilt. Now, Tim had seen the truck roll out, and decided to follow it. Even though he couldn’t find me. And as a note to you younger guys this was before we wore our radios. So… He couldn’t just call me up either.” Luca grinned, “He pulled out on the street, followed the truck at some distance. No lights, no sirens. But… I guess the guys saw him and realized they were in trouble.”

“Uhuh…” Street nodded, “Then what?”

“They stepped on the gas.” Luca chuckled, “And I hung on for dear life.”

Hondo grinned wide, he had heard the old story about a billion times before. Because he often asked Luca to tell that story if they were alone, mostly because of the ending. But he knew the younger crowd probably hadn’t heard it before.

“So, yeah… Tim had called for backup. So this other squad car comes roaring up the street, opposite direction. Which led to some impressive driving from the kidnappers, I’ve got to credit that to them. Which again made it a whole lot more difficult to stay on top of that rig. At one point a chopper came on top of us… And the truck sped up even more.”

Deacon nodded, he had heard the story a few times before, but not as many times as Hondo.

“Anyway. Soon enough the kidnappers messed up and they took the wrong turn and ended up in a place where the road was under construction..” Luca chuckled a bit, “I give you one chance to guess what happened when the driver hit his breaks…”

“Ouch, you fell off?” Chris frowned.

“Bingo!” Luca chuckled, “Broke my wrist going down there. Anyway, kidnappers are on their way out of their truck, and yup… They had guns, because they started shooting towards the now three squad cars behind them.”

Hondo nodded, a smirk growing on his face.

“Now, my right hand was pretty much useless. I couldn’t even get my gun out of the holster with that hand.” Luca said, studying his own thick wrist, “I didn’t get my gun out before the kidnappers decided to retreat to the front of the truck, you know… Right where my broken wrist and I was.”

Deacon chuckled a bit.

“Somehow I manage to choke out the first guy. The smaller guy, of course…” Luca chortled, “So you can say I’m kinda outta luck at that point. Now, this hothead officer from one of the other squads came over.”

Both Deacon and Hondo laughed. Hard.

“What? What’s so funny?” Tan looked between the three oldest members.

“Well, the second hothead was him…” Deacon chuckled as he jerked his thumb in Hondo’s direction.

“Yep…” Luca nodded, “He took care of the two other kidnappers. And right about then a small squad of four rappelled down from the chopper which had been hovering above us for I don’t know how long…”

“Now THIS, THIS is the best part!” Hondo shot in, forcing the others to pay attention.

“Turns out it was SWAT.” Luca blushed at the thought, “Grandpa’s team… Grandpa and my dad were two of the guys who rappelled down.”

“NO?” Street’s jaw was hanging about an inch further down than usual.

“Yeah.” Luca shook his head, “I got the sternest talking to in my adult life right then and there…”

“He means they were just about to smack him around…” Hondo chuckled.

“I think they would’ve…” Luca shrugged, “If I hadn’t been grimacing and holding my wrist already… I was probably too pathetic looking to slap. I had gone one step beyond getting my ass kicked.”

“You’re kidding?” Tan chuckled.

Luca shook his head, “You’ve got to remember that people didn’t care that much back in the day if you spanked your kids. Or straight up beat the shit out of them in some cases. Now, as every other kid growing up in the 70s, I had been smacked a couple of times. So… I knew the look in both my dad and grandpa. They were almost vibrating as they gave me a firm shouting to about how ‘god-damned’ stupid I had been.”

“I didn’t know you back then, but I was certain those two SWAT officers were going to knock you out at any second…” Hondo shook his head at the memory, “Oh, and you were like 60% road rash…”

Luca nodded.

“That’s it…” Chris threw her hands up in the air, “I don’t have anything to top that!”

Deacon grinned, “Let’s hear yours anyway.”

“I got made on an undercover gig.” she shrugged, “Got roughed up a bit.”

“Care to elaborate?” Street tilted his head.

“Nope.” She shook her head, “Now Deke, what’s yours?”

“Broke my pelvis once.” He shrugged, causing the entire rest of the team either shudder or frown at the thought.

“I’m going to regret this, but how?” Tan asked looking at the grey haired man.

“Tossed from a window and onto a concrete wall a floor or two lower.” Deacon took another sip of his beer, “It was very uncomplicated. Basically the best kind of break you can have in your pelvis. Hurt like crazy though.”

Tan frowned.

Deacon nodded, then he looked over at Street. “You’re up…”

Street looked over at Luca, “Well… If you feel like stopping me, just do so…”

Luca scrounged up his nose “Why?”

“I got my leg trapped under my motorcycle once.”

“This is a work story, right?” Tan asked.

Street nodded, “Yes. I rode a police motorcycle for a while.”

“One of them big, boxy, ones?” Luca frowned.

“Big, not exactly boxy anymore…” Street nodded.

“How?”

“A bit outside of the city limits. Gravel road. A tractor came backing towards me around a bend. I hit the wrong break…”

“So you hit your front break and…”Luca let his hand mimic the motorcycle sliding out from under the driver.

Street nodded, “Came to a stop less than three yards from the rear of the tractor. My leg under the tank of the bike.”

“Alright, I don’t need any more details on that one…” Luca frowned.

Street nodded.

“Or… Did you end up with a cast, and for how long?” Luca followed up.”

“Yes, and seven weeks.”

Luca nodded, a small shudder running up his spine.

Hondo stretched before he stood up, “I’m getting another drink. Luca, do you want something?”

Luca checked his coffee cup, it was almost empty. He then pulled out a few bills and handed it to Hondo, “A coke or something…”

Hondo nodded.

**SWATSWATSWAT**

They had been there almost five hours when Luca poked Street in the leg with his good foot.

Street looked up immediately.

“Kid, tonight was real fun.” Luca beamed, then he flashed an apologetic smile, “But I should get back home now. It’s been a long day…”

Street nodded, “Do you need help up?”

Luca shook his head, “Don’t think so…”

He was right, he didn’t need help getting up.

“I might need help getting my crutches off of the floor though…” he added with a cheesy smile.

“No problem.” Tan winked and bent down to fetch Luca’s crutches, he then handed them to Street who in turn handed them to Luca.

**SWATSWATSWAT**

“You look like you’re in pain again…” Street mentioned as they walked from the car to the front door.

“Not more than usual…” Luca paused to shrug, “I’m a little stiff from sitting too long though…”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” Luca flashed on of his trademark full-blown smiles, “I’m sure. Stop worrying so much…”

Street rolled his eyes, “Considering how much your leg has gone through the last few months, I’m allowed to worry about you.”

Luca smirked a bit.

Street hurried up front to unlock and open the door for him, receiving a short nod and a short ‘thanks’ from Luca.

“Do you need anything?”

“Just to lay down and have my legs up…” Luca shrugged, “But Duke probably wants a walk…”

Street nodded and it didn’t take long before Duke met them by the door. Luckily for Luca the dog never jumped up on people he knew, a part of it’s career training.

“Guess you’re right about that…” Street bent down to pat Duke, and put the leash on him, “You’re sure you’re good here?”

“Yeah. All good.”

“Alright.” Street nodded and left for his and Duke’s walk.

Luca let out a heavy sigh once the door was closed. The truth was that he was drained in every way possible, his leg was throbbing violently and all he wanted was a good night’s worth of sleep. Something he couldn’t remember when he had the last time.

He hobbled over and took the pill bottle on the living room table, stuffing it into one of his pockets. Then he did a quick detour to the bathroom to take care of that business before he could turn in for the night.


	3. an old buddy

Street was out spending the day with Molly, and Luca had nothing better to do than to play videogames.

He was already two hours deep in playing X-box when his phone rang. He welcomed the change.

He reached out with one of his long arms, and glanced at the screen before he answered the call.

“Heya, how are you Luca?” a deep voice rumbled at him. A voice he hadn’t heard in a long time.

“Coop, man… How’s it going?”

“I’m fine.” The man on the other end of the line answered, “I’m on my way to L.A. now. Was wondering if you were busy at work today or if you had the day off…”

“Nah, I got the day off…” Luca shrugged.

“Cool!” Coop grinned back, Luca could hear it in the man’s voice, “So, you didn’t answer my first question, how are ya?”

Luca sighed, glaring over at his cast. “Got injured a few months back. On desk duty for the foreseeable future…”

“Aw, that sucks…”

“You would know, right?”

Cooper chortled, “Yeah, well… Sure.”

“How’s Allie and the kids?”

“Allie’s doing great, busy as ever at the hospital. Charlie is having fun in school, and is constantly annoyed by her younger brother.” Coop chuckled, “And speaking of Jake, let’s just say that Allie claims that we just carbon-cloned me…”

“What has he done now?” Luca chuckled.

“Almost gave the two of us a heart attack by suddenly being in the top of the apple tree we have in our yard.” Coop tsked, “Still haven’t figured out how that tiny guy made it all the way to the top. He didn’t have a ladder or anything.”

“Sounds like you’re having your hands full…”

“You could say so…” Cooper sighed, “And still we’re thinking of adding another limb to our family tree…”

“Oh?”

“Allie is… She’s… She wants another kid or two…”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, she always dreamed of this BIG family, with lots of kids… And even though the first two are complete hurricanes, she thinks we can handle one more…”

Luca laughed.

“I mean, she’s prolly right, but…” Luca just assumed Coop shrugged during the pause, “The first one was a little crazy, the second one is constantly keeping us on our toes… If the curve doesn’t change, the third one will be the death of us…”

Luca chuckled, “So, you’re not sold on the idea?”

“Oh, trust me… I’ll do what’s required from my part to make more kids happen, happily…” Coop chuckled, “But, I do have some concerns.”

“So, if it happens… What are you hoping it’s gonna be?”

“Well, as long as it’s not a squirrel or an alligator, I guess we’re going to be alright. But I’d be hoping for a human…”

Luca chortled, “You know what I meant…”

“Yeah, I do… I love being the father of both a girl and a boy… Both are equally awesome in different ways.”

Luca chuckled, “Man, I’ve gotta take the trip up to visit soon. I bet the kiddos have grown a lot.”

“That’s for sure.”

Luca nodded, “So, I’m not really up for meeting up at a diner or anything. But you’re more than welcome to stop by my house. I’ve got coffee and a few take-away/home-delivery menus…”

“Sounds good to me…” Cooper grinned, “You still live up near Simi Valley?”

“No. I moved like almost two years ago. I’ll text you the address…”

“Cool.” Cooper replied, “I’ve got some business at the VA to take care of, think I’ll be done there around 2 o’clock.”

“Alright, then I won’t be wondering where you’re at before about 3 then…”

“Sounds about right.”

**SWATSWATSWAT**

A few hours later there was a knock on the door before it opened up. “Hey, you told me to just walk straight in so…”

“Hey! Come in.” Luca grinned, “I’m in the living room.”

A moment later Cooper’s towering form came into view. “Shit man, you didn’t say you were still in a cast. Didn’t you say it was a few months ago?”

Luca nodded, “I thought you knew all about that…”

Coop looked down and knocked on the socked of his prosthetic left leg. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“How long did you spend in a cast again?”

“Way too damn long…” Coop chuckled, “Like almost 11 months in a cast, then a brace for a while, before I finally had the amputation a bit more than one year after the injury.”

“How long has it been now?”

“Well, it was the spring before Charlie was born, and she’s already in the second grade.” Coop shrugged, “Time flies.”

Luca nodded.

“So, damage report?” he nodded towards Luca’s leg.

“Crushed my leg under a few tons of steel…” Luca sighed.

Coop stepped over to the chair next to the couch and sat down, “How?”

“Remember that earthquake a few months back?”

Coop nodded.

“I stood next to an abandoned bomb-shelter door right when the first one, the big one, happened. It tossed all of us around a bit, and the door landed on my leg. Lower leg…”

Coop grimaced, “That’s no fun.”

Luca nodded.

“So…” Coop flashed an apologetic half-smile, “Is there progress?”

“More than you had back in the day…” Luca nodded, “I don’t need nerve blocks. And it’s slowly getting better.”

“So, you’re not joining the bulletproof leg association?”

“Not yet.” Luca chuckled, “I’m trying to avoid just that.”

“Not the worst club to be a part of…” Coop winked, “But if you’re getting better already, then… I guess that’s the better option.”

Luca nodded, “I’m probably done with SWAT, but I might have an honest shot at being in patrol…”

“SWAT without a Luca is like…” Cooper shook his head as he tried to come up with an example, “Like AC/DC without Young. Like Queen without Mercury…”

“-Like Delta Force without Cooper E. Lea?” Luca folded his arms and cocked his head sideways.

“Nah, my old team’s good.” Coop chuckled.

“Don’t try to tell me that Dunc didn’t freak out a little when it started to become clear that you weren’t getting back in the fire.”

“That guy doesn’t really freak out about anything.” Cooper chuckled.

Luca chuckled, “I bet.”

“I think I’ve seen him freak out like, twice. And both times someone’s life was hanging in a thread.” Coop shrugged, “I don’t mean like ‘lose-his-head’ freak out either, I mean his hands were a bit shaky and he was snappy.”

“That’s Dunc for ya, I guess.”

Coop nodded, then pointed towards the kitchen, “But you were talking about coffee on the phone, can I just go search for a clean mug in the kitchen?”

Luca nodded.

“You want me to brew some new coffee while I’m at it?”

“The old one might be a little stale.” Luca rubbed the back of his head.

“As long as it’s not five days old, and outside of Bagram… I’ll drink it…” Coop chuckled, “But I’ll put on some new anyways.”

Luca nodded, and Coop stood back up.

“How do you even walk with that…” Luca asked, keeping his eyes on Coop’s non-biological leg, “Isn’t it extremely difficult?”

Coop paused in his tracks and looked back, “I guess it was in the start, but not anymore. I can do pretty much whatever I used to could. I can’t hit a 5 minute mile anymore, not even a 6 minute… A mile takes about 7 minutes if I’m hauling ass right now…”

Luca nodded a bit.

“But, I can do all the things I really want to do, or need to do.” Coop grinned, “I can dance with my wife, I can keep up with our two kids… I can keep my balance on a board, be it surfboard or skateboard, not as skilled as before, but hey… I’m getting older too…”

Luca smirked, “Guess it’s a lot about perspective…”

Coop nodded as he started opening the cupboards in search for a mug, “It truly is. But, one thing’s for sure, you’re damn well allowed to claim that life sucks every now and then…”

“Well, sure does right about now…”

Coop made a small triumphant sound as he found the mugs. Before his voice went back to his characteristic deep bass voice. “Want to talk about it?”

“Not really.” Luca shook his head, “I feel like it’s the only think I can think about, and I’m tired of it.”

Coop nodded and turned around to search for coffee, only to see Duke sleeping on the floor, “You have a dog now?”

Luca looked up from the couch, “Yeah. His name’s Duke.”

“Cute one.” Coop grinned, “Rescue, or?”

“Not exactly,” Luca shrugged, “He’s retired K-9… One of my teammates found him for me when I moved alone. Before my previous roommate moved in with me again.”

“Yeah?” Coop smiled as he found the ground coffee and started preparing the brew, “Do I know him, or her?”

“Roommate?”

Coop nodded.

“Don’t think so…” Luca shrugged, “He’s only been in SWAT for a few years.”

“Shorter than that Rocker dude?”

“Yeah, I’m talking four years, tops.”

“Oh, so DEFINITELY hasn’t met him before…”

Luca nodded.

“What’s his name?”

“Street.”

“Huh?”

“Jim Street.” Luca chuckled, “He’s one of those guys you kinda forget has a first name…”

“I know a couple of those guys…”

“Doesn’t exactly help that you guys have your surname velcro’d to your chest either.”

“Nah… It really doesn’t.” Cooper chuckled, “You can believe I caught some shit for my last name the first few years of service. Before I buffed out…”

“Like, Princess?”

“Princess was definitely one of the nicknames. Most people thought they should pronounce Lea like the princess from Star Wars…” Coop chuckled, “Then I gained a lot of mass and started looking about as scary as my older brother, and people just stopped…”

Luca chuckled, “You don’t say…”

Coop flashed a grin his way as he finished setting up the coffee machine.

“I mean, you’re like 6’7” and mostly muscles.”

“Nah, I used to be mostly muscles…” Coop chuckled, “I’m definitely entering dad-bod territory now.”

Luca scoffed, “You mean that if I call Allie, she’s going to report that you don’t still have sixpack abs?”

“Well… They’re there…” Coop shrugged as he started walking back towards the chair he had chosen as his. Not being shyer than that he pulled up the hem of his shirt to show them off, “Just a bit more flab to cover them up.”

“That’s not dad-bod…” Luca chuckled, “That’s still abs young guys will aspire to develop.”

Coop chuckled as he sat down.

“So, how’s the VA job?”

“Constantly fluctuating between being the best job ever and the worst one…” Coop sighed, running both of his hands through his hair, “Seeing people get the help they need, and knowing you’re able to help them along the way, is about the best feeling ever. Seeing someone as desperate as my older brother was… That hurts.”

Luca nodded, “I get that man… I don’t think I could’ve done that job…”

Coop smirked a glee-less smile, “Nah, you’d be great at it…”

“I’d take all those stories, tragedies, back home with me at the end of the day…” Luca shook his head, “I would not have been cut out for it.”

“Well, you already have experience with working with tragedies.” Coop shrugged, “Kidnappings, school shootings, traffic accidents, gang related violence which harms innocent bystanders. The difference is it’s not something YOU experience first hand anymore as a counselor, therapist or buddy-equal… You hear their worst moments through their filter.”

Luca nodded, “Exactly, I don’t think I could’ve done that for a living.”

Coop shrugged, “I didn’t think I was cut out for it either… Especially after what my brother did.”

Luca nodded, “You think about him often?”

Coop chuckled, “Well, put it like this… My daughter’s nickname is her uncle’s name…”

Luca’s head dipped down and he nodded, “Right. Stupid question.”

“I loved him. Don’t think I ever actually told him that.” Coop shook his head, “When I was growing up, he was already a grown-up and I thought he was made of steel. That nothing could really harm him.”

Luca nodded.

“He was the reason I wanted to join the army in the first place. Then he became the reason I wanted to become a part of special forces, and Delta.” Coop shook his head, his eyes a bit more glassy than earlier, “By the time I was an adult myself, I knew he had problems. I knew he had too quick a temper sometimes. I knew he had these moments which haunted him. I knew he drank too much when he was back home.”

Luca didn’t move, he just kept watching Coop.

“I never really knew how bad off he was. And it never even registered to me that he could do something like that.” Coop inhaled sharply through his nose, “If I ever saw him again, I’d first kick his ass until he could barely crawl, then I would have given him the hug I never really got to have. Then I’d tell him how angry it made me, how much I’ve missed him and how much I’ve always loved him.”

Luca couldn’t help but feeling how his eyes started stinging as well.

“He’d probably love being an uncle.” Coop chuckled a little, trying to bring the mood back to a lighter level.

A small laugh burst from Luca’s chest, “Probably. One of the best things to be.”

Coop smirked, “Yeah, I know one thing that beats being an uncle though…”

Luca smiled.

“Have you met anyone yet?” Coop looked over at Luca, “I mean, you keep dreaming of starting a family.”

Luca shrugged, “Not officially.”

“But…”

Luca shook his head, “Got this one woman I… She’s… You know when you meet someone and they’re just made of GOLD and too good for you…”

“You’re not thinking about my wife, are you?” Coop winked, “Cause you just described her.”

Luca grinned, “No, this one is a single mother I’ve gotten to know over the past few years. Both her and her kid are amazing.”

“So, are you dating on the down low, or?”

Luca shook his head, “Haven’t gotten around to asking her… I can’t make myself do it.”

“Why not?”

“I just need her in my life, man…” Luca shook his head, “I can’t just ask her out and risk our friendship like that.”

Coop rolled his eyes like he was a teenage school-girl, about as far from the fact as it was possible to come. “Come on man… For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve pretty much been a human golden retriever… There’s no chance she doesn’t like you back.”

Luca scoffed.

“She’s got a kid, right? She’s probably looking for stability in a guy. Someone who’s willing to let her lean on him and who’ll stand up for her if she needs it.” Coop shrugged, “You’re a perfect guy to have in one’s corner.”

“Nah, she’s too good for me.” Luca shook his head.

“Do I need to go full operator on this and figure out who she is, hire one of her friends to collect intel on whether she likes you or not?” Coop folded his arms, “Cause I will do it. It’s been too long since I’ve had fun like that.”

Luca chuckled, “No. Don’t do that… That’s just creepy…”

“It’s keeping old skills sharp…”Coop shrugged.

Luca grinned, “Please don’t do that…”

“Alright, I won’t…” Coop chuckled, “But really, who is she?”

“Not trusting you. Not telling you…”

“Like I won’t figure it out on my own?”

“How many contacts do you have in L.A.?” Luca glanced sideways at Coop.

“Excluding you?”

Luca nodded.

“Including or excluding people with no particular skill?”

“Without them.”

“Between ten and fifteen…” Coop answered thoughtfully, “About three that would be helpful and wouldn’t cost me a dime to use.”

Luca nodded. “Don’t…”

“I mean, if everything went according to the plan, you wouldn’t know…” Coop chuckled, “Not before I called you with the information I had collected.”

Luca shook his head in disbelief.

“Nah, I’m just yanking your chain…” Coop chuckled, “I won’t do it.”

“Good, now keep that promise.”

Coop chuckled, “Sure. Would’ve been a fun experiment though…”

“You miss it…”

“Being in the field?” Coop sighed, “Yeah, I miss having to really use myself. I miss having to be smart. I miss being so damn tired I could sleep on rocky outcrops. Weird to say it, but yeah. I miss just about all of it.”

Luca chewed on his lip.

“Now, don’t get me wrong. I love how my life has turned out, but… I miss the excitement.”

Luca nodded.

**SWATSWATSWAT**

They heard a bit of noise from the kitchen area, and a few seconds later Duke walked into view.

“Hey boy!” Luca grinned and patted against the armrest of the couch, knowing Duke would come straight over there. “Come here…”

The dog started wagging its entire body as it picked up its pace. It stopped right next to Luca, in easy patting distance. And did that hindleg stomping thing when Luca scratched just the right spot behind the shoulder blade.

Coop grinned, “Does he like strangers?”

“Loves them.” Luca nodded.

Coop held out his hand to let the dog sniff him. Soon enough he was stuck petting Duke.

**SWATSWATSWAT**

They had chatted about everything and anything for almost an hour when Coop reached for the thermos and found that it was empty. “Well, good thing I put some coffee on earlier…”

Luca nodded, “Hey, if you chose one of the takeaway menus on the side of the fridge, we can order some dinner as well.”

Coop nodded, “Yeah, I need some food soon… Was so busy I forgot to eat earlier.”

Luca chuckled, “Knowing how much food you can put down, I kinda don’t believe you…”

“It happens, once in each millennia or something…” Coop chuckled, “I had to be formal today, I’m not in my element when I have to suit up and act like it’s something I do daily.”

“You actually suited up?”

“It was not the scene where I could show up like some California beach bum…” Coop chuckled, “But I was quick to get my shorts and T-shirt back on when I left. -I even wore a tie.”

Luca chuckled, as Coop got up once more.

“I don’t really think beach bum when I think of you…”

Coop chuckled, “If I let my hair grow out, and talked like I do with my high school buddies up in Klamath, you would’ve…”

Luca grinned.

“Trust me, I can look like a small town screw up with the best of them…” Coop grinned as he returned with the fresh coffee and two menus. “I didn’t know which one to pick, I’m not familiar with the places… But both Mexican and Pizza sounded up my alley…”

Luca nodded, “That Mexican place is awesome.”

“Alright, Mexican it is then…” Coop grinned, “How’s their sizes?”

“Most people will feel full from one portion…” Luca shrugged, “But most people are a foot shorter than you… And smaller in just about every way…”

Coop nodded. “So, I should probably order double…”

“Probably.” Luca nodded, “I do that at that place if we’ve had a long, rough shift and I’m starving…”

“Thanks for the advice…”

They ordered, the food arrived and they gorged themselves.

“Hey, when you get a little better, and feel up for making the trip…” Coop swiped the back of his thumb against his chin to get rid of some salsa which was making a getaway, “You’ve gotta come visit us. We always have a couple of spare beds ready.”

Luca grinned, “I will. Might need someone to drive me though. Not up for that yet.”

“Would be awesome meeting your roomie, or that mystery woman you’re not dating…” Coop teased.

“We’ll see…”

**SWATSWATSWAT**

A few hours later Cooper left to drive back home to Klamath, not before he had promised to give his family one big hug each from Luca.


	4. Movement

*Another few months later*

“Now, Mr. Luca…” the doctor smiled, “Are you ready to get this cast off for good?”

Luca took a deep breath, steeling himself. “Sure.”

“You’re going to have to wear a brace until after the knee surgery we have planned.” the doctor informed as he prepared the gear to remove the cast.

“Are you sure it’s okay to drop the cast?” Luca hated how shaky his voice felt, “My leg was crushed.”

The doctor nodded, “The X-rays, and the CatScan show that all the breaks have fused. If it wasn’t for your knee, I would’ve set you up with a physical therapist to teach you to walk again.”

Luca nodded, “I can barely believe that I’ve come this far already…”

The doctor nodded, “Starting to look like keeping your leg was the correct choice.”

“It was a bad injury…”

“Sure was.” the doctor nodded, “Any one of the injury types you got could have been indicators to amputate your leg. If that rotary dislocation your knee suffered had torn your popliteal artery, or pressed against it and not been reset in timely fashion, that would not have made your leg viable. The fractures you suffered were extensive enough to question if it would heal, even with surgery… And on top of that, we have the crush injury which wreaked havoc on your muscles and soft tissues, causing compartment syndrome and might have killed off your muscle tissue.”

Luca swallowed hard.

“You got lucky.” the doctor smiled.

“Yeah, I really did.” Luca nodded, “So… When I have surgery to reconstruct my knee… What will that mean.”

“Oh…” The doctor nodded as he picked up the cast scissors, “Dislocating your knee, you tore your anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments. That’s the bands inside your knee which keeps the shin bone from sliding back and forward relative to the femur, -the bone in your thigh.”

Luca nodded.

“On top of that, you tore your medial and lateral collateral ligaments. That’s bands on either side of your knee. Those stabilize your knee sideways. With all four of those bands torn, your knee depends on the muscles in your leg to keep it somewhat stabile.”

Luca nodded.

“Now, some top level athletes tear some of these bands every now and then. Take hockey players for instance, they usually have so much strength in their legs that surgery won’t be necessary. -Of course with some exceptions.” The doctor explained, “You on the other hand…”

“I don’t have any muscles left in that leg…” Luca nodded.

“Well, most of the muscles are still there, but they’re not what they used to be. They won’t be able to keep your knee from dislocating in either the same way as it did, or in more typical ways.”

“Well, we don’t want that…” Luca frowned.

“No, we don’t.” the doctor nodded, “You also injured your menisci… Both of them in that leg. Small tears will heal on its own over time, but unfortunately you have a complete buckethandle tear of one of them and one that’s slightly smaller in the other one. Those might lock your knee up if you were to use your leg. Now, your knee locking up from a buckethandle meniscus tear isn’t exatctly dangerous in any normal way, but I have it on good authority that it’s incredibly painful.”

Luca grimaced, “Yeah, don’t want that either.”

The doctor nodded, “So what we’re going to do is clean up the torn ligaments, and smaller nicks in your menisci. Then we’re going to use grafts from either your hamstring muscles in the opposite leg, or donor grafts, as your new ligaments. And we’ll be sewing the big tears of your menisci.”

“Donor grafts?”

“Yeah. Sometimes your own tissue won’t be right for your knee. Either because you’ve lost too much mass from where the graft would be taken, and to cut out a decent graft would leave you with a deficit in the healthy leg. Or because the site of the graft has some injury that would make the graft likely to fail. For example, we often use patella tendon grafts to fix ligament tears in the knees. Your left patella tendon wouldn’t be suited for that since we had to reattach about half of that tendon after the earthquake.”

Luca nodded for a bit, but had one more question for the doctor before he got as far as to start cutting up the cast.

“How much pain will I be in after the knee surgery? Don’t sugarcoat it.”

The doctor looked up from where he had placed one hand on Luca’s cast, “That’s not an easy question to answer. Grafts from your own body will hurt where they’re taken from. Think of it as having a partial tear in a muscle. It’s about the same pain. I know you’ve had that before.”

Luca nodded, “Yeah, tore some of my bicep tendon or muscle once. My whole arm was painful and bruised after that.”

The doctor nodded, “With donor grafts you won’t have that, but grafts from your own body is preferred in most cases. Less chance of graft failure.”

Luca nodded.

“The reconstruction itself varies a lot. I have some patients who experience minimal pain and swelling, and I have patients who experiences a lot of both as well.” The doctor shrugged, “Some never really need the aid of crutches after the ligament surgeries, and some will need it for a couple of weeks after. But you’re going to have to use crutches for a month afterwards anyway, since we have to sew up your menisci as well.”

Luca nodded. “Okay, and does that hurt?”

“Most patients feel fine after that surgery, in my experience.” The doctor winked, “Slight swelling might occur, but not usually accompanied by pain.”

Luca nodded.

“Now, I’m going to start clipping up your cast. Any more questions before I start?”

Luca shook his head.

**SWATSWATSWAT**

The best way to describe his leg when it was finally de-casted was skin and bones. -And scars. But then again, he hadn’t used any of the muscles in it for months now.

“The scars look good now…” the doctor offered up a satisfied smile, “Even where you ended up having that infection early on…”

Luca nodded, “It’s still a bit redder than the others, though.”

“Yeah, but you can think of it like this, it started healing a lot later than the other scars.”

Luca nodded.

“Can you try moving your ankle for me?” the doctor guided the conversation, showing with his hands how he wanted Luca to move his foot.

“Just go ahead and try?”

The doctor nodded.

Luca tried, but it was like the wrong muscles responded when he tried, and it didn’t work out so well in the first place either. “I can’t…”

“Let me try this one thing first, before you start worrying.”

Luca nodded.

“I’m going to grab your foot and above your ankle and manipulate it a bit. Just let me know if anything’s painful.”

Luca nodded again, and the doctor took hold of his leg.

“That feels weird.” Luca said as soon as he felt the doctor’s hands on his foot.

“Does it hurt?”

“No, just feels weird.” Luca shrugged.

“Okay, I’m going to slowly start moving your foot up and down a few times, that will probably feel really weird as well.”

Luca nodded.

“Just let me know when I need to stop.”

“Sure thing.” Luca nodded.

**SWATSWATSWAT**

The doctor was right, it did feel really weird. His ankle had been locked in one position ever since the injury.

The doctor moved his ankle like he was making Luca speed and slow down a car, without using the breaks. He made the motions smooth and paused at each turn.

It felt like he was gradually making the movement bigger, but Luca couldn’t exactly be sure without looking.

“Ah, stop, stop!” Luca winced on one of the turns as the doctor pressed his toes up.

The doctor backed up the movement a bit, “That hurt?”

“Stretched my calf like crazy…” Luca cleared his voice, “Can you go back there again? I just wasn’t prepared…”

“Sure…” the doctor nodded and eased back to the position which had made Luca squirm, “Want me to hold it in this position for a bit?”

Luca thought, then nodded.

After about fifteen seconds the doctor started pressing Luca’s foot back down to a position he felt like Luca could handle, “Now, if you try to move your foot with me, it might be easier for you to connect with the correct muscles when you’re going to try it yourself the next time.”

Luca nodded, and tried.

The doctor chuckled once, “Now, try to relax your thigh. That’s not the right muscle groups. Neither is your seat.”

Luca laughed, “it’s really hard.”

“That’s alright. It is to be expected.” The doctor reassured. “You haven’t moved your ankle in about five-six months, and with all the damage from the injury… It’ll be exactly like learning to move from scratch.”

Luca nodded.

“There, you’re doing great!” the doctor grinned, “Can you feel that you’re using the right muscles now?”

Luca grinned, “Yeah, yeah I think so…”

“I’m going to let go of your foot, try to keep moving it just like we’re doing now…”

Luca nodded, and continued the motion when he felt the doctor let go.

The doctor watched for a few rounds, an amused look on his face. “Well, I’ll be damned…”

Luca paused, “What?”

“You’re impressing me…” the doctor grinned, “Usually I would expect that anyone who had a similar injury to the one you’ve had, would develop drop foot. That they would be unable to lift the front of their foot properly, or raise their toes… You’re actually leading with your toes when you raise your foot. I did not expect that.”

“So, good thing?”

“Great thing.” The doctor nodded, “Now, over to the next exercise… Can you try to move your foot sideways like this…”

The doctor explained the movement by showing it with his hands once more.

“Can you make my stupid muscles understand which of them is supposed to work first?”

“Sure thing…” the doctor nodded and carefully grabbed Luca’s foot, “We’ll start rotating it inward a bit.”

Luca nodded, but yelped when the doctor gently rotated his food a few small degrees.

“I’m sorry, that sounded like it hurt…” the doctor apologized, “Can you tell me where?”

“That stabbed at my knee…”Luca answered, trying to ride out a grimace.

“Okay, like through the joint? From the side in some kind of way?”

Luca nodded, “Just like that…”

“Inside or outside of your knee?”

“Mostly inside.”

“That’s probably your medial meniscus disagreeing with the movement. We’ll skip inward rotation for now.”

Luca nodded.

“Let’s try rotating it the other way.”

Luca nodded again.

The sharp inhale Luca did caused the doctor to stop, “Sorry. That hurts as well?”

“Not as much, but it’s not good…” Luca nodded.

“Same spot?”

“Yeah, not as much… But the back outside of my knee doesn’t like that motion.” Luca shrugged once the doctor had helped his foot back in a normal position. “Not as painful as the other way, but… Still painful.”

The doctor nodded, “Okay, we’ll just wait with rotation until after your knee surgery. Since it’s causing you this much pain.”

Luca nodded.

“Does it hurt anywhere else than your knee when we tried rotating your foot?”

Luca shook his head, “No, didn’t hurt anywhere else. Tingled a bit above where some of your fingers were, but not anything I can call painful.”

“Alright, that’s good.” The doctor smiled, “Then that problem will likely solve itself once we’ve taken care of your menisci…”

“Cool…” Luca grinned.

“Now, try to just relax here while I go grab the brace you’ll be wearing.” The doctor instructed, “I don’t think you’ll need a drop foot brace, but I’ll bring one anyway. Justin case you overwork your leg and it gets too sore to keep your foot neutral.”

Luca nodded, and started gently moving his foot up and down once more.

“That’s great.” The doctor grinned, “And I want you to keep working on that, the goal is to eventually get the same range of motion as in your healthy leg. -But I also don’t want you to start out too hard. You’ll be sore from basically doing nothing now at the start. So don’t over-do it too much, alright?”

Luca nodded, “I’ll try.”

The doctor nodded and went out the door.

**SWATSWATSWAT**

“Look at you…” Street grinned as Luca came hobbling towards where he sat and waited, “How does it feel?”

“A lot lighter…”Luca chuckled, “Feels a bit odd.”

“Did the doctor say anything?”

“That it was looking good.” Luca beamed, “And that everything was ready for the knee surgery.”

“That’s awesome.”

Luca nodded, “Hey, we should invite the team over tomorrow night.”

“You up for that?”

Luca rolled his eyes a little, “I’ve been out with you guys like four-five times since my injury. I can take a party at home by now.”

“Just messing with you…” Street grinned, “I say we order a few pizzas to go along with it.”

“Deal!” Luca grinned, “Now don’t tell too much about my leg to the team if they ask this afternoon or on tomorrow’s shift.”

“I’ll try.”


	5. Welcome back

It was his first day back to work after the knee surgery. He felt like he had made a lot of progress since before the surgery. He was still bound to use crutches for a few more weeks, but at least he was allowed to bend and straighten his knee as much as he could. The surgeon had actually told him that it was in his best interest to keep moving it.

The fact that he also was allowed to toe-tap with his left leg as he crutched along was also something to be excited about. He felt he looked a lot less vulnerable doing that than keeping his foot off the ground. 

It was great feeling that he was finally on the road to some normalcy again.

On the way in he met Lynch by the elevators.

“Hello Luca.” She smiled, “How did the surgery go?”

Luca grinned, bending and straightening his knee to show Lynch, “I think it went really great. My knee doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“That’s good.” She grinned back, “And how is the rest of the leg?”

Luca shrugged, “Still getting better I think. Everything’s a little rusty, you know…”

“Given any more thought to Hicks’s offer?”

Luca shrugged, then nodded. “I still need a little more time, but I’m warming up to the idea.”

Lynch flashed a brief smile, “That’s great.”

The elevator arrived, and she gestured to it, “Mind if I ride up with you?”

“No, go ahead.” Luca grinned,

They stepped into the elevator, and turned to face the elevator door. Luca didn’t really pay attention to what Lynch was doing, but if he had he would have seen that she sent a quick text.

**SWATSWATSWAT**

“He’s on the way up…” Chris informed when her phone pinged.

The rest of the team, and Hicks, got ready. 

As soon as the door opened they all cheered, causing Luca to almost lose his balance for a second.

“Guys…” he barked out a laugh, “You shouldn’t have…”

Tan shrugged, “We wanted cake…”

Luca chuckled and looked over at the chocolate cake, “I want some of that as well.”

“-And we wanted to celebrate that you’re back in the building at least.” Deacon grinned.

Luca nodded, “It’s good to be back… Desk duty still, but at least I get to feel somewhat useful…”

“Nah, you’re always useful.” Chris grinned as she went in for a hug, “How are you feeling, tough guy?”

“Still a bit sore in some places, but my knee feels right.” Luca admitted as he used Chis for support more than his crutches.

“That’s good.” She grinned back, “It’s been a long journey already.”

Luca nodded as he grabbed a hold of his crutches again, “Yeah, I can barely wait to toss these crutches.”

“Gonna be good to see you actually walking again…” Hondo winked and gave Luca a pat on the back.

“It’s not going to be long before I’m walking around again,” Luca grinned, “Just 21 more days and I’m allowed to put full weight on my leg. -Given that it doesn’t hurt like crazy when I do…”

“That’s great man!” Hondo grinned.

Luca nodded, then he looked over at Street, “This was why you didn’t wait for me today?”

Street nodded, “Yeah, sorry about that.”

Luca chuckled, “Don’t think about it… Made my day…”

Street grinned back.

“Alright, let’s find somewhere to sit down for a spell, before the day really starts.” Hicks shrugged, “That cake needs to be eaten.”

Luca knew it was more a trick to make everyone ready to get seated in case that he felt like sitting down, but he didn’t mind. He couldn’t eat cake standing up, now could he?

“Yeah, let’s head over to the kitchen or something.” Deacon nodded, “I for one want some fresh coffee…”

The group headed towards the kitchen.

**SWATSWATSWAT**

Luca massaged his hands once they had found a place to sit. His callouses were starting to get ridiculous from being on crutches for about half a year, and it wasn’t exactly a secret that his hands and wrists ended up sore every now and then.

He nodded a silent ‘thank you’ to Street when he placed a fresh cup of coffee and a plate of chocolate cake in front of him.

Street answered with a silent shrug of ‘don’t mention it’.

“So, how’s physical therapy treating you…” Deacon asked, ready to shove a forkful of chocolate cake into his mouth.

“Good. I can almost pedal all the way around on the bike now.” Luca grinned, proud of his own accomplishment. “It’s a slow process, but I’m getting better.”

“That’s good.” Deacon smiled around a mouthful of cake.

Luca nodded and took the first bite of his cake. His eyes went wide after about the second chew, “This cake is fantastic! Who made it?”

“My aunt…” Chris grinned, “I’ll tell her you liked it…”

“You have to…” Luca nodded.

“Just tell her all of us enjoyed it…” Hondo grinned.

“I will.” She grinned back.

“So, how often do you have physical therapy?” Deacon followed up.

“Every day.” Luca shrugged, “Except Sundays. It’s closed on Sundays.”

“Wow, that’s a lot…” Tan shot in, “What kind of exercises do you do?”

“Mobility.” Luca chuckled, “Lots of mobility. Some strength exercise as well, but it’s still a few weeks until I can put weight on my leg. So that’s mostly the machines which can isolate my thigh…”

Tan nodded.

“Truth is, I don’t put more than 5 lbs on anything yet… Some of the machines I don’t even put weight on.” Luca chuckled, “It would’ve felt pathetic if I didn’t know what my starting point was.”

Tan’s face went neutral for a moment, before he managed to find a fitting smile again, “You have every reason to be proud of that.”

Deacon nodded, “Absolutely, I can’t say I wouldn’t have given up a long time ago if I went through the same.”

“Nah…” Luca shook his head, “You would’ve kept on swimming as well. I’m lucky to have this team cheering me on, that really helps. And if our roles were reversed, you’d have five extra motivators on your team…”

Deacon shrugged, “Yeah, but… I still can’t imagine I would’ve been as headstrong as you’ve been through all of this.”

“Well, what else can I do?” Luca shrugged a little, “Breaking down crying won’t help me a bit. Being pissed off because I at one point couldn’t move a hundred yards before I almost passed out, that wouldn’t have helped. The only way past this is straight through it.”

Deacon nodded slightly, “I guess you’re right. But… It takes a whole lot of internal strength.”

“I guess you don’t really think about it when it’s the only choice you’ve got.” Luca answered running a hand through his hair, “You all would’ve done the same.”

“No.” Street shook his head as he tried to swallow down a piece of cake he had just put in his mouth before continuing, “I would’ve cried a lot more.”

“Hah, me too…” Chris nodded.

“I would probably have been constantly grumpy, and none of you would have wanted to stick around with me…” Hondo chuckled, “Tends to be what I do when I’m in pain…”

None of the others tried to change Hondo’s mind on that, because it was kinda true. They all knew it.

“I…” Tan shrugged, “I can’t say I know how I would have handled it, if it was me… But, I would probably have given myself a lot more permission to just relax. I don’t think I would’ve started working again as early as you did. I’m not sure I would’ve been back to work before… Well… Before now…”

“Thing is, letting life pass you by isn’t really helpful in any way.” Luca shrugged, “Besides, I started going stir-crazy pretty early on when I was stuck at home.”

“Anyway, neither of us would have showed up here in a wheelchair that short after having their leg crushed, asking if there was something they could work on…” Deacon shrugged.

Hondo chuckled, “Yeah, Luca is the only person I know who’s stubborn enough to do that.”

“I was bored…” Luca said defensively.

“Yeah, and that wasn’t much more than two weeks after the hospital released him.” Street edged in.

“It was almost three weeks…” Luca shrugged.

“Your team is impressed by you.” Hicks shrugged, “I am too. Take it for what it is. A compliment.”

Luca nodded a little, “But I was bored, and it’s no big deal.”

Chris almost rolled her eyes, “Luca, you forget how worried even the doctors and nurses were for you.”

The whole team struggled holding back their laughter at that, Luca included.

“Yeah, okay. It was bad.” He shook his head.

“It was.” Lynch nodded, “And it’s very good to see you moving around with the ease you do now. It’s been an impressive recovery to witness.”

Luca nodded, and looked up at Lynch. “I haven’t really said this before, but I’m glad you could be there. You know… Before the first surgery.”

She shrugged a little, “We agreed back here that somebody should be with you. But the team was needed elsewhere, and Robert has more experience with your team and crisis. It was good to be of some sort of help.”

Luca nodded, “Thanks anyway…”

She smiled back, “I’m looking forward to seeing how good you’re going to end up…”

Luca nodded a little, “Yeah, me too…”

The whole team agreed to that.

“I bet we’ll see you jogging soon…” Street winked.

“Nah, I don’t think I’ll be able to do that again…” Luca shook his head, “I’ll be satisfied if I end up walking without an obvious limp.”

“But if you end up walking normally…” Chris teased.

“Oh, we’re over in the pushing phase now?” Luca chuckled, “I’m not opposed to the idea of it. But realistically… I don’t think it’ll happen…”

Hondo chuckled.

“What?” Luca looked over.

“Nothing…” Hondo shook his head, “We’re all just really happy to see that you’re getting better.”

Luca smiled.

“Well, sorry to interrupt, but our shift starts in five minutes.” Hicks shrugged, “We should go get report from the last shift.”

“Yeah, and I need a few minutes to get over to the office and get ready…” Luca shrugged.

“See you after work…” Street grinned, before giving Luca a pat on the back and heading off to get report.

“Yeah, see you!”

**SWATSWATSWAT**

“I bet another 25 that he’s jogging before four more months has passed.”

“You’re optimistic…” Chris narrowed her eyes at Street, “I keep my bet at within the one-year mark…”

“Nah, it’s going to take more than a year…” Deacon shook his head, “But he will jog. No doubt about it…”

“I’m with Deke…” Tan shrugged.

Hondo chuckled, “I hope you’re right… But I think he’s right. It’s not realistic that he’ll jog again…”

“It’s one of the most stubborn guys we know of we’re talking about…” Street shrugged, “He’ll make it. I’m telling you.”

“I hope you’re right…” Hondo nodded, “But he’s not superman… Try not to push him too hard.”

Street nodded. 


	6. Physical therapy

A short month later and he felt like he was making progress at a sprint. From being stuck at a relative stand still for half a year, to one month after the assumed last surgery be able to finally put weight on his leg, made it feel like he was being launched from a catapult.

The first time was scary though. Firsts often were.

“Alright, you’ve been going through the movements of walking for a month now. Without putting weight on your left foot, of course…” the physical therapist said as he stood beside the double bars, “Normally one month after meniscus reconstructions I’d say just trust your leg. But, for you… I want you to go at this like a grandma getting into some kinda cold water.”

Luca chortled, “What?”

“Take it slow, test out the water first. Your leg hasn’t taken your full weight in a really long time, and it might not be ready for your full weight without threatening to buckle.”

Luca nodded. He had his hands on the double bars, his crutches were rested against the wall.

“So, first… I want you to try and shift some of your weight onto your left leg. As much as you’re comfortable with. Keep your hands on the bars.”

Luca nodded, and started leaning less on his right. “If my leg feels okay, can I lean all my weight on my left?”

“As long as you feel comfortable about it, yes. If your knee starts wobbling or hurting, then I don’t want you to put more weight on it straight away. That’s a sign that it’s more than the knee is ready to take.”

Luca nodded, still leaning more and more weight on his left.

The therapist nodded to himself as he studied Luca try it out.

“Can I try to lift my right foot a bit?”

“Well, that’s certainly an important part of walking…”

“Huh?”

“Yes, you can.” the therapist dropped his head into his hand, “Yes, as long as you’re comfortable doing so. I really need to work on not answering the first thing that comes to mind…”

Luca chuckled, then he tried lifting his right foot an inch off the ground. Then he placed it back down.

“I can’t describe it, but…” Luca shook his head, “It feels weird.”

“Weird how? Painful?”

“Not painful.” Luca shook his head, “More like my leg is delayed. Like noise under water.”

“But you don’t feel any sort of pain or discomfort when you put weight on it?”

Luca shook his head again, “No.”

“It might just be because you haven’t actively used that leg for so long, or it might be because you have some sort superficial nerve damage. Or any other reason…” the physical therapist shrugged.

Luca nodded, “I do have a pretty big area where I can’t feel things like if I run my fingers over the skin there, or similar things. Would that do it?”

“It might be because of that, or it might be because the leg isn’t used to being used.” The therapist shrugged, “Truth is, I can’t make an educated guess before we see how this plays out over time.”

“Okay?”

“It could be one of them, it could be a combination. It doesn’t really change anything what it is. The way we rehab your leg will be the same either way, and the end result is mostly based on the work the doctors put in during surgery, and the work we put in now.”

Luca nodded, it was probably obvious that he was nervous about his leg, because the therapist didn’t stay quiet for long.

“The nerves that control the gross motoric functions of your leg are intact.” The therapist shrugged, “We’ve concluded with that time and time again for the past month, when you’ve done non-weightbearing exercises.”

Luca looked up and nodded, “Yeah, that’s true…”

“Why don’t we try to take a few steps. Just start like you’ve already done on your crutches, without putting weight on it. Then you gradually put more and more weight on it as you walk along the bars. Okay?”

Luca nodded, “Yeah. Sure.”

“Only if you’re comfortable with it.”

“Yeah.” Luca nodded, “I’m just… I’m nervous, it’s silly…”

The physical therapist shook his head, “No. It’s understandable. We can postpone this to the next appointment if you want to…”

Luca shook his head, “No. I want to try this. It’s just… It’s messing with my head.”

“Okay, want to explain that to me?”

“No.” Luca shook his head, “It’s just a mental block. Like the first time you rappel down a highrise or the first time you jump out of a plane with a parachute on your back.”

“Yeah, that’s two things you would never have been able to force me to do…”

“It’s really not that big a deal once you’ve done it a few times.” Luca shrugged.

“Well, I have a crippling fear of heights, so… Nope.” The therapist shuddered, “But I’m guessing you’re speaking from the point of view of someone who’s not really troubled by fear of heights.”

“Probably…” Luca chuckled, “It used to be easier to get me to do that stuff than to poke me with a needle.”

“You’re kidding?”

“Nope, that’s my phobia…” Luca chuckled, then he took a deep breath, “Alright, here goes nothing…”

**SWATSWATSWAT**

In the end, he wasn’t able to walk with his full weight on his left leg. It didn’t really hurt, but his leg didn’t feel stabile enough for it yet, and it caused his entire leg to shake like crazy.

“Looks like you’ll have that down by this time next week though…”

“You think?” Luca looked over at the therapist.

“Yeah, you almost had it now.” He nodded, “A bit more time and practice, and maybe we’ll be able to toss those crutches soon?”

Luca chuckled, “That would be awesome.”

The physical therapist nodded.

“Alright, the restrictions…” Luca snapped his fingers a couple of times, “It was ‘don’t put weight on a my leg while the knee’s bent more than 25 degrees’, right?”

“That’s right. And no running yet…”

Luca chuckled, “You think I could end up running one day?”

The therapist sighed, “Given your injury and all of that, there’s a lot of reasons why I should not believe it could be a realistic goal for you… But…”

“But?”

“But, considering where you’re at NOW…” the therapist shrugged, “I wouldn’t bet money against you… That’s for sure.”

Luca chuckled, “So, a small sliver of hope?”

“You’re not going to be Usain Bolt, or anything… But able to technically run, I could definitely believe that.”

Luca grinned, “Probably not fast enough to pass any kind of qualifier, but I would be able to say that ‘I’m going for a run’…”

The therapist nodded, “Something like that, yeah…”

“That’s better than anything I could hope for six-seven months ago.” Luca grinned wider, “This, this right here is unbelievably much better than what I could hope for back then.”

“You’re right about that.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not going to beg for comments, but I will say that comments makes me happy.


End file.
